Pokemon Go Apple Watch App Being Discontinued

Niantic, the developer of the popular Pokemon Go title, has confirmed that it will be discontinuing the Apple Watch app for this game. The app was first announced back in September 2016 and released several months later. Contrary to what some players may have expected, the app didn’t allow users to play the game on their smartwatch, it was more of a companion app that worked in tandem with the iPhone app.

The Pokemon Go app for the Apple Watch only provided a small set of features. Users could see how far they had to walk before hatching an egg when the app was paired to their iPhone, it could provide alerts about nearby pokemon or pokestops, and could also display the number of experience points that they had earned.

It was never possible to play the entire game on the Apple Watch itself and since Niantic introduced Adventure Sync last year, there’s really no reason now to keep this app around. This feature tracks the player’s steps in the background which is something that the Watch app also did. Niantic points out that this means players no longer have to split their gameplay between two devices.

Niantic has confirmed that it will end support for the Pokemon Go app for the Apple Watch starting July 1st, 2019. It will not be possible to connect the app to the iPhone app after that date.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Gaming
Tags: Apple Watch, Pokémon GO